Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn calls in a play in the BCS title game (The Birmingham News/ Hal Yeager)

AUBURN, Alabama -- There was no national television broadcast to capture Gus Malzahn's tirade last week, but the Auburn offensive coordinator was visibly furious as he paced the sidelines after one of Auburn's three turnovers against Samford.

Malzahn said turnovers are difficult for him to stomach.

"The things I can't live with are the turnovers and the silly mistakes," he said. "Sometimes you get whipped; sometimes they're better than you are. My focus all year, and especially lately, protect the football, have a hat on hat, and execute properly."

* Georgia Southern's relative success running the triple option last week against Alabama hasn't made Malzahn reconsider any central tenets of his offense.

"From week to week, you can't just start running the Wishbone or whatever," Malzahn said. "We're not Georgia Southern and we're not LSU."

* Redshirt freshman defensive end LaDarius Owens, who sustained a foot injury six weeks against Arkansas, could return for Auburn's final regular season game.

Owens tweeted Tuesday that he planned to play Saturday against Alabama, although Auburn coach Gene Chizik was more cautious.

"We're going to try to get him ready," Chizik said.

Chizik said Owens had been playing well before his injury.

"In the South Carolina game, I noticeably saw him making some serious strides at the defensive end position," Chizik said. "He's gotten bigger. He's filling out. He's 250-plus pounds right now. He's really done a great job of getting his body prepared, and he was really coming along. Where he will be by the end of this week, I don't know."

* Offensive tackle Brandon Mosley, who left the Samford game with an apparent knee or foot injury, did not practice on Monday, Chizik said.

With Mosley out, starter Chad Slade shifted to tackle and redshirt freshman Eric Mack entered the game as guard.

Chizik was tepid in his praise for Mack and said he needed to be "more physical." That would seem to make Moseley's return for the Alabama game imperative.

"If there's any way he can play, he'll play," Chizik said.

* True freshman Jermaine Whitehead, one of a handful of players who saw extra playing time after T'Sharvan Bell suffered a season-ending knee injury, said Bell was available for pre-game and halftime advice.

"He came in the locker room at halftime and he pepped us up," Whitehead said. "He told us, 'You're going to be all right.' We all played with that emotional feel. Seeing him just boosted all our spirits. We came out in second half and played a lot of ball."